'All My Children' tribute coming to Sarasota

"Tribute to Pine Valley" coincides with the online-only resurrection of the long-running soap opera.

By JAY HANDELMAN

Debbi Morgan broke down racial barriers as a leading African-American star during her many years on "All My Children."

Now she's helping to change the way people look at daytime dramas, and television in general, with the online resurrection of the long-running soap opera.

Morgan, who has played Dr. Angie Hubbard off and on since 1982, is part of the cast of the new online version of "All My Children," available on Hulu and iTunes beginning Monday in 30-minute episodes, along with another canceled ABC soap, "One Life to Live."

The digital soap debut comes at a time of rapidly growing web presence in entertainment, with hundreds of Internet-only series. Netflix is finding success with its original series "House of Cards" earlier this year.

But the new versions of the soaps also comes with a lot of history: "All My Children" aired for 41 years before it was canceled, three years shy of the mark set by "One Life to Live."

Soaps once dominated daytime television; now there are four on the major networks. The move to the Internet is the latest transition for the dramas, which started on the radio before migrating to television in the 1950s.

All that history also led to protests against ABC when the two shows were canceled in September 2011 and replaced by reality shows like "The Chew," which hasn't achieved the kind of fan loyalty that long powered the soap operas.

"I tell my Twitter followers, this only happened because of them, because they were so vocal," Morgan said.

Pine Valley history

The history of the intertwined lives in Pine Valley brings Morgan and several current and former castmates to Sarasota this weekend for what is billed as a "Tribute to Pine Valley."

"They're really a lot of fun," said Vincent Irizarry, who joins Morgan at the tribute program and returns to his role as the villainous Dr. David Hayward, which he has played off and on since 1997. "We really interact with the audience, take questions and share with them our personal experiences and memories of working on 'All My Children' and the people we've worked with."

It's a personal thing to fans, who often feel like they know the characters as well as their own family members.

No one knows them like Executive Producer Ginger Smith, who has been with the show for about 30 years, Irizarry said.

"If anyone has a heart as close to Agnes Nixon, who created the show, it's Ginger," he said. "You can ask her about any character over the last 30 years and she'll give you a complete detailed account of everything they've done."

Young once played the central character of J.R. Chandler, who fired shots at a party in a cliffhanger that ended the series on ABC. Ryan Bittle takes over the role in the new version.

Irizarry said the new series starts five years later, but audiences will quickly learn the ramifications of the shooting on the various characters.

He wouldn't reveal what impact the attack had on the noted surgeon, other than to say, "It impacts me profoundly and will propel me forward in the months ahead."

Fans have been waiting a long time to find out what happened.

It wasn't intended to be that way. "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" were expected to resume within two months through the new production company called Prospect Park.

That meant the actors didn't feel the extreme sadness during the final shooting days that some might have expected.

"We filmed our last scene with the knowledge that we were picking it up in a couple of months. It was sad ending at ABC, but we knew it wouldn't be long before we were back together," Irizarry said.

The two months turned into 18 before legal fights between Prospect Park and ABC, among other issues, were resolved. (Prospect Park has a suit pending against the network over the use of some of characters who have been moved to the continuing "General Hospital.")

Once a start date was determined, things came together quickly.

Irizarry said he got a call late last year saying the show was going to start in two months.

"That was astounding, a total stunner. No one could expect that after a year," he said. But nothing was together. "They had no actors, no writers, no crew, no directors, but they did it. And they did a great job of it."

They also got Nixon to serve as a consultant and to oversee the entire project.

Same show but different

It's the same show but different, with new sets because the old ones were destroyed along with the original blueprints.

Many of the characters are the same, but the actors are different (something that soap fans have been used to over the years).

Absent is Susan Lucci, who played the formidable (and much-married) Erica Kane since two weeks after the show's debut in 1970. She is now starring on "Devious Maids," a Lifetime series from "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry.

"And from what I understand, she's hosting a reality show as well," adds Irizarry. "But she has said publicly that she's working with the production companies to find a way for her to make appearances."

Prospect Park is producing 30-minute episodes, four per week, with a recap and interview program included in the mix. A total of 168 episodes is planned for each show, to start.

The cast gathers for five-week increments to film scenes, alternating time in the Connecticut studio with the cast of "One Life to Live."

Morgan said it all feels familiar, but she's still adjusting to a production schedule that requires some scenes to be filmed out of sequence.

"We just get a shooting script, not a complete script now, and I could be shooting one scene from show two and then the next scene is from show 12 with no continuity. That's a challenge."

But it's a challenge she's happy to face.

"I'm just really over the moon," she said. "This character has been a part of my life and probably kept me employed for a whole lot of years, more than most of my peers. To have that and something I enjoy so much, with an acting family I enjoy so much, I'm just over the moon."